


The Game for the Galaxy - Episode XXX: Admiral Armitage Attacks

by FilmOSophie



Category: Star Wars, The Last Jedi
Genre: #thankyourianjohnson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:49:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25653913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FilmOSophie/pseuds/FilmOSophie
Summary: From conflict to cooperation
Kudos: 1





	The Game for the Galaxy - Episode XXX: Admiral Armitage Attacks

He always wondered why Snoke would tolerate an individual such as Hux by his side. Now he stood in the same position, compelled by a legacy of power to the services of such megalomaniac. He could not deny it: the throne he stood upon was also achieved by subtlety and treason, methods Hux often employed in his own ascent to power. He excused his weakness of not being able to remove his rival by thinking that thus he ensured control over the First Order’s army. The drawback of this arrangement was that he had to put up with his admiral’s bloody suggestions.  
During his time in the First Order, he witnessed many atrocities committed or commanded by Armitage. The destruction of a highly inhabited planet was nothing compared to the obliteration of the entire Hosnian system. Back then, Snoke issued orders and his unrelenting knight still wore a mask. As he followed the missiles that scoarched the skies, their red light reflected on his dark helmet, no one could tell what went on in the mind of Kylo Ren. None could tell now, either.  
He passively observed how Hux couldn’t resist to make a spectacle out of holocaust. In order to serve the grandiosity of the newly appointed admiral the pending deaths of millions were presented as both dire necessity and great achievement.  
The self-appointed Supreme Leader supervised the massacre as he did back when he was only a knight. His stony face was alike a mask. No one could tell what hid behind its expressionless figure. No one would guess concern lurked behind his dark eyes. He wanted to be spared of this parade. He wanted the job done already, so that Rey would not make it in time to meet her heroic promise. But it was too late...  
Her sudden emergence from warp hit him like a dagger. She was aware of it. She instantly sensed his flickering energy, growing incandescent in the Force. And while she could not see him, she felt his intent gaze fixed towards her current position. As reply, she posted her ship between the Supremacy and their target, waiting for his move.  
She was surprised to find that her presence there failed to stir compassion for her situation, let alone for those millions of nobodies that would soon share her fate. When the missiles started towards them, the layer of defiance melted away. The Force alone could spare her and the miserables she endeavored to defend. Almost instinctively, she focused on the flying missiles, trying hard not to let herself overcome by fear. But they would not obey her will in the Force, despite the intense concentration. Despair took over. She closed her eyes, feeling the missiles as they approached implacably, awaiting the impact. Yet strange enough, the excruciating effort to deviate the projectiles seemed alleviated as they were getting dangerously close. Just seconds before disaster, the missiles were successfully deflected and they hit an uninhabited satellite nearby. A heavy sigh marked her relief.  
Witnessing the turn of events, the Supreme Leader released a prolonged hiss. He stormed towards the platform where only a few seconds before admiral Hux held his emulating speech.  
‘What did we just witness, general?’ Kylo Ren asked before the entire army.  
‘Admiral...sir...’ Hux corrected his superior, with prudent deference.  
‘Not anymore!’ raged the Supreme Leader. ‘Your mistake has put to ridicule the entire First Order!’  
‘But, sir...’  
‘How can we expect to restore order in the galaxy if you can’t even calculate correctly the coordinates of the target we are meant to destroy? This was a disgrace!’  
Hux was left without the opportunity to respond. Having made his dissatisfaction clear, the Supreme Leader retired to his quarters.

When the door was safely locked behind him, Ren fell prey to the nervous shaking which he had passed as savage rage until then. What he successfully managed to repress in face of many consumed him once he was alone. The invulnerable villain faced his greatest fear. He collapsed under the weight of this realisation: he was so close to losing her! The slightest lack of focus during the deflection of the missile might have costed her life. The mere thought of it seemed unbearable, robbing him of his breath. And yet, for her, everything was just a game...

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, Rian Johnson, for giving us the wonderful vibe of what might happen if the strongest Force users in the galaxy worked together instead of fighting each other!


End file.
